Château Pontet-Canet, Pauillac Grand Cru Classé, 2017

Simply put, this is one of the best wines made in the world today. 

No other property has had such a consistently peer-beating rise over the past twenty years; and this is Bordeaux, where the peers for Pontet-Canet represent profoundly serious competition. It is a fifth-growth property, but is referred to in the same swathe of commentary as the top five and the other Châteaux who consistently over-perform in their categories (Léoville Las-Cases, Palmer etc). This is a rare occasion the buy the wine in the very beginning of its plateau: this is in glorious condition, from a stellar vintage, showing some tertiary characteristics, that will slowly develop over the coming decades.

The 2017 vintage broke the trend of rain, traditionally associated with vintages ending with a "7" but in its place, there was serious frost damage that affected much of the right bank of Bordeaux. Pontet-Canet was protected by the Gironde river, which acts as a climactic buffer, preventing low temperature damage by releasing warmth through the cold evening, but, seemingly to the left side of the river, far more so than the right.

Following this night of frost, the season was exceptionally fine with a long and even ripening period until the harvest, with a few light spots of rain, that began in the middle of September and finished on the 6th of October. The Château is proud of its hand-making nature; not only hand harvesting in the vines, but also, since 2017, only hand-handling of the wine in the winery. Which is to say, there are now no pumps or electronic controls used at all in the winery - everything, from fermentation to vatting,  to racking - is all carried-out by hand.

It is a set of traditional practices that, while in themselves may not have separated them from other wineries, has focused the attention on the incredible quality of grapes and the terroir in which they are grown, allowing these facets as well as the considerable winemaking skills, to shine through in a clear, honest, unfettered and profound manner. 

The vineyard breakdown is as follows for the 2017 vintage: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

It was the first large-scale Bordeaux property to begin organic and biodynamic practices, and was the first of the Grand Cru Classé properties to receive certification for the whole Château in both.

Jean-François de Pontet was a civil servant working in the court of Versailles under Louis the fifteenth before being made Governeor of the Médoc at the turn of the eighteenth century. He bought a few vineyards in the north of the village of Pauillac in 1705 and, fifty years later, acquired an estate in the townland of Canet. The official joining of the two names in keeping with the custom of the day to form the title of the estate, its buildings and land, marked the birth of Château Pontet-Canet in 1781. At this stage one might wonder about his personal longevity and indeed continue to do so, as some state his date of death as 1836, which would mean that he had purchased his original vines 131 years earlier, having already reached the level of Governor. That's internet research for you. 

However, I digest. The estate saw a challenging period after the 1830s and went through a period of low pricing as a result. This led directly to impact upon the Classification of 1855, which was largely based on Châteaux recent price performance, and thus Pontet-Canet was placed in the fifth tier. Seeing beyond the classification and into the potential of the property (and probably getting it for a decent price to boot), the hugely important and influential merchant Henri Herman Cruse bought the estate in 1865 and set about reforming the estate to its former glory and then pushing it into the twentieth century when it really began to shine.

The Cruse family sold to Guy Tesseron in 1975, whose family had made its fortune in Cognac. Today it is run buy Guy's granddaughter, Justine, who learnt from her father Alfred and uncle Gérard, who had revolutionised the Château and its reputation since the mid-1990s. 

The big developments in recent times are of course the vineyard management and its conversion to organic and biodynamic practices. This is a courageous and risky decision to make for a property at the top of the Médoc, but has clearly established the vines with better depth, structure and fortitude to be able to cope with changing climatic impacts. Developments in the winery have also been significant with the use of ancient amphora for part of the ageing process - amphora which had been discovered in the vineyards of Pontet-Canet itself! Thus, becoming the accurate epitome of simultaneous forward-thinking and historic practices. Current ageing practices are broken down as 65% barrique (50% new, 15% second-fill) 35% amphora for 16 months before blending and bottling.

The resultant wines are intense, profound, structured and concentrated with flavours that range from cassis, blackberry and damson, to cedar, leather and graphite. It is always a wine to which those lucky enough to carry out broad Bordeaux tastings look forward mare than almost any other.

It is repeatedly a bottle that offers generosity and stature; there are not many wines like it.

96 Points, Wine Advocate:

"2017 Pontet-Canet gives up beautifully fragrant notes of rosehip tea, lilacs, cinnamon stick, cloves, dried leaves and underbrush with a core of kirsch, raspberry coulis, warm plums and red and black currants plus a waft of pencil shavings. Medium-bodied, the palate is refreshing, minerally and wonderfully elegant with a well-played texture of approachable, plush tannins and a long, fragrant finish. Beautiful. Aging took place in 50% new and 15% in second fill barrels and the remaining 35% in amphorae for 16 months, much of the material for which came from the soil at Pontet-Canet!"